Networking Effort for a Village School Goes Viral

By

Melanie Grayce West

September 10, 2011

Wall Street executive Robert H. Lessin had hundreds of friends. Not clients, friends. Now those friends are stepping in to continue Mr. Lessin's legacy of teaching and fund-raising for the George Jackson Academy in the East Village.

Mr. Lessin died last month at the age of 56. He was vice chairman of Jefferies & Co., a New York investment bank. But negotiating deals, as he did for more than 30 years, was only a day job and, as...